AUSTIN, Texas, Nov 30 (Reuters) - U.S. Republican Representative Joe Barton of Texas will not seek re-election, his office said in a statement on Thursday, in a decision he made after a nude picture of him appeared on the internet earlier this month.

Barton's announcement reverses his Nov. 2 announcement of plans to run for an 18th term in the U.S. House. He was first elected to Congress in 1984 and had been considered a favorite to win re-election until the photo surfaced on Nov. 22.

Barton, 68, has told media the nude photograph came when he was separated from his second wife, prior to a divorce, and was part of a consensual sexual relationship. Barton's genitals were obscured in the version of the selfie that was posted on the internet.

Barton issued the statement saying he would not seek re-election on Thursday shortly after an exclusive interview with the Dallas Morning News in which he went into more detail about his decision.

"There are enough people who lost faith in me that it’s time to step aside and let there be a new voice for the 6th district in Washington, so I am not going to run for re-election," he told the newspaper.